A ONE-MINUTE PRODUCTIVITY BOOK REVIEW

The Power of Habit

Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

Image made in Canva by Caitlin Bourbonnais

I found this self-help book more entertaining than useful, with stories broken up to manufacture suspense.

Key concepts from each chapter:

1. Habits work in 3-step loops: cue, routine, reward.
2. These loops form a craving for the reward.
3. You can change habits by substituting the routine part.
4. Keystone habits create “small wins” that help other habits.
5. Willpower can become a habit but is depletable.
6. Organizations must form truces between different parties.
7. Shoppers have individual habits that change with major life events.
8. Movements are carried by strong ties to start, weak ties to grow, then a sense of identity to endure.
9. You must consciously decide to change a habit.

Advice on how to apply this is relegated to a ten-page appendix. Pictures throughout are the same habit loop recycled. Studies are often problematic, and cherry-picked to the author’s purpose.

Two books I would recommend:

The Art of Procrastination

End Procrastination Now!